110 Zoologica: N. Y. Zoological Society. [I; 3 



to be more exact 29.5% of the avifauna of the Orinoco region as 

 given by Berlepsch and Hartert.* They give a Hst of 468 spe- 

 cies and sub-species, and with the addition to this of 12 species 

 new to this Orinoco region collected by Mr. Cherrie in 1907,* and 

 37 species from my list, we have a total, excluding 18 northern 

 migrants, of 498 Orinocan birds. Disregarding the incomplete- 

 ness of this list it is interesting to compare it, group by group, 

 as a fair representation of the birds of the lower Orinoco region 

 with the 244 species recorded as breeding in New York State. ° 



Glancing over the comparative table as a whole, we are in- 

 stantly struck with the preponderance, in the Orinoco region, of 

 birds of low type of organization. 



Taking the two sections of Passeriformes as representing 

 respectively higher and lower grades of development, we find 

 the distribution thus: 



Acromyodi (higher). 



11 are more numerous in New York (6 being 

 peculiar to the region) . 



1 is equally represented. 



6 are more numerous in Orinoco (5 being pe- 

 culiar to the region) . 



Mesomyodi (lower), 

 f All 6 are more numerous in Orinoco (5 being 

 Of 6 families ^ peculiar to the region). 



*Mr. Cherrie's birds are as follows: 



Heliornis ful'ica Finfoot. 



Himantopus mexicanus Black-necked Stilt. 



Ajaja ajaja Roseate Spoonbill. 



Mycteria americana Wood Ibis. 



Jabiru mycteria Jabiru. 



Zebrilis pumilus Little Tiger Bittern. 



Palamedea cornuta Horned Screamer. 



Sarcoramphus papa King Vulture. 



Catharistes urubu nriihu Black Vulture. 



Rhyncocyclus sulphurescens Sulphury Broad-bill Flycatcher. 



Pitaiigus sulphuratus trinitatis Trinidad Kiskadee Flycatcher. 



Ramphocelvs atrocerlceus capitalis Black-bodied Ramphocelus Tanager. 



Of classical, isolated types of generalized structure we find 

 more than half a dozen in the Orinoco region : Tinamus, Opistho- 

 comus, Psophia, Eurypyga, Aramus, Heliornis and Palamedea, 



Of 18 families < 



*0n the Birds of tlie Orinoco Region, by Count Hans von Berlepsch and 

 Ernst Hartert. Novitates Zoologicae. Vol ix, April, 1902, pp. 1-134. 



°Check list of New York Birds-, by M. S. Farr, 2nd edition. Bull. N. Y. 

 State Museum. Vol. vi, No. 38. 



